“There was a lady on the fourth floor, on the railings, and she was impendently in harm’s way. She jumped,” said Dep. Chief Kevin Curran of the Fitchburg Fire Department.

That woman was taken to a Worcester hospital with back injuries. Five others were transported to the hospital suffering from smoke inhalation, while one firefighter suffered burns to the head but was not hospitalized.

Neighbor Luis Ramos rushed into the building to try and get everyone out, but he could not reach the woman who jumped.

(Photo Credit: Lana Jones/WBZ NewsRadio 1030)

Crews battling the fire were forced to evacuate the building, which is in a very congested neighborhood in the Cleghorn section of the city.

“We had high-voltage wires that were on that side of the street that inhibited aerial use to help fight the fire and effect rescues,” Deputy Chief Brian Belleveau of the Fitchburg Fire Department.

Fitchburg’s mayor said the building had been the subject of code violation complaints.